It’s certainly been an adventure so far in this electoral season to say the least. As the candidates gear up for one last push to consolidate their voting blocs, Queens-Politics continues to ponder the possibilities that Tuesday’s Primary results will present us with.

So without further adieu, here are my suggestions to help guide you through this process.

Hailing from North Queens, I’ve kept a watchful eye on the developments in Council District 19 because it’s important to me, it’s home. The real race comes down between two candidates: community activist Paul Vallone, whom I fully support, and a trained operative and spin doctor named Austin Shafran. This weekend, Shafran will be making his final push to concentrate the Jewish voting bloc by emphasizing his Jewish heritage – sort of ironic for a man who graduated St. Francis Prep and was married in a Catholic church, but I digress. Did I mention Shafran received money from special interests yet held a press conference to denounce such contributions and outside spending?

He’s really worried Vallone is going to win this thing, and I can’t blame him. Despite the misleading blog headlines, Vallone ran a completely positive campaign. Sure, this statement will certainly raise eyebrows on the blogs (which have apparently aligned themselves against Vallone and for lobbyist Paul Graziano) but the whole Jobs For NY issue was NOT connected to his campaign, after all that’s illegal. The powers that be behind the real estate backed PAC independently sent mailers which offended the delicate sensibilities of candidates who obviously could not handle the heat in the kitchen to face the truth about themselves: you can’t have a seedy past and expect to come up smelling like roses. Ignoring these issues is a disservice to the electorate. In politics your record will be challenged and sometimes it’s just not pretty. I believe it’s all part of the vetting process and definitely not for the feint of heart. I’ve faced it myself despite not running for public office and I took it all in stride. If I can do it, so can they. But never in my life have I witnessed such two-faced bigotry from questionable candidates who have fallen to the wayside and become desperate for a headline. And it got even worse on TV. On the NY1 debate, to which everyone of Vallone’s opponents united against him in attack mode, all I saw was a bunch of insecure politicians that ganged up on the frontrunner and showed the public one thing: Paul Vallone will be the very best candidate for the 19th City Council district.

As for Queens Borough President, it’s well known that I’m supporting Peter Vallone Jr. and as of now – despite not having the County’s endorsement – it looks like he could win, that is, if enough votes are pulled out. Name recognition credit goes to Vallone, as well as his unwavering support of public safety issues. Queens will be a safer place with Peter Vallone as Borough President. Did we mention the NY POST just endorsed him as well as the PBA?

Comptroller? I’m going to go with Eliot Spitzer, and I’ll even go as far as to say he will win Queens just based on name recognition. After all, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has never come around to these parts. No one here has ever heard of him and that’s got to mean something.

Public Advocate? We’ve endorsed Cathy Guerriero. Cathy has also been endorsed by practically every law enforcement union in the city, and for good reason. The office of Public Advocate is not meant to be held by a career politician. The Public Advocate is the city’s chief ombudsman – and we need someone in there who’s outside the scope of politics and unafraid to call people out, cut the red tape and do the job well. Hailing from the outer boroughs, Cathy knows the issues important to Queens. That’s why I chose Cathy and I hope you do too.

Borough President candidate Peter Vallone Jr. and Bill Thompson.

Now I’ve helped out on elections across NYC and I’ve become quite familiar with poll site politics. Poll workers are political hires. They have allegiance to their District Leaders, whom in turn have their allegiance to the County organization (not all but most). In recent elections, there were instances when newly registered voters were told by poll workers they “accidentally” showed up at the wrong poll site and were redirected (sometimes across town). Upon arriving at the new site, they were told yet again they’re in the wrong place and they simply gave up at that point. And who could blame them? Some of these voters were even mailed the wrong poll site location from the BOE. It certainly has the makings of a conspiracy theory.

In NY politics, voters are easily disenfranchised especially if your recognized as supporting another candidate running against a County candidate at the polls; they just don’t want your vote to count and it’s hard to prove. As voters, our only defense is to be armed with knowledge and insist on an Affidavit ballot to protect our vote and mitigate any political factors that may have come into play at the polling site.

Me and Comptroller John Liu.

I can’t honestly go on and accurately predict results because this season there’s too many factors and variables to take into consideration which change minute to minute. My only hope is that people like you will take my suggestions on candidates who have proven themselves to be strong advocates for Queens and cast your ballots accordingly. Now, it may be unscientific, but it’s what’s best for our borough (and yet still more scientific than some of the polls I’ve read), which is my guiding philosophy. Ultimately, neither official polls nor unofficial ones can truly say what will happen with certainty this year. However, the unpredictable nature of this primary election has not stopped a seemingly endless array of pundits, wonks, and psychics from bombarding the airwaves with their half-witted predictions. So who will be the predictive champion? Time will tell.

Yes, our posting schedule is quite random but Queens-Politics is here to stay. So check back often for the unfiltered commentary and if you have a tip email info@queens-politics.com. Again, no matter whom you choose, it’s time to get out the vote.

Queens voters will be best served with Cathy Guerriero as our next Public Advocate.

It’s not often you’ll hear a candidate speak the truth or confront problems head-on and offer innovative solutions with out of the box yet plausible thinking. It’s even less often to see a candidate with the right combination of life experience, hands on skills, and academic background to confront the problems we face as New Yorkers.

In NYC politics you must be willing to fight for what’s right. That’s why we’re proud to endorse Cathy Gurrerio for Public Advocate. She’ll bring the right set of skills to the table, but most of all we feel she’s the best choice to represent the people of Queens in City Hall.

Following her campaign these past few months, one fact becomes clear: Guerriero is not afraid to tell it how it is.

Now the Public Advocate’s race has been somewhat overshadowed by the Mayor and Comptroller’s race but this election is just as important, if not more. The Public Advocate, or the Chief Ombudsman, is responsible for presiding over City Council meetings and processing and investigating citizen complaints. They also have the power of the bully pulpit to which they can use to provide a watchdog function in city government. Now the powers are very broad, the office has the latitude to sit a lame duck or the city’s chief ombudsman. The office of Public Advocate in NYC is very much what you make of it, and Cathy Guerriero will bring the right mindset and qualifications to make the most of it.

While her opponents have run dynamic campaigns, we regard Cathy as the far more qualified candidate.

As New Yorkers, we’re going to need someone in the PA’s office that comes from the grassroots (and is not a career politician) in order to keep the Mayor, the Comptroller and the City Council all in check. We’re going to need an advocate that will standup when others sit down. That’s why we’re proud to endorse Cathy Guerriero. As voters, we need to make sure that the Public Advocate’s office is about helping people, and we now have the candidate that we know will do exactly that.

Cathy has a great shot at winning; she’s been endorsed by the largest voting blocs in Queens (she’s been very busy networking) and practically every union in the city. If people like us take our friends, our neighbors, our family to the polls — then we can make sure that Cathy Guerriero becomes our next Public Advocate.

We hope that you will make every effort you can to support this reform-minded candidate in her run for public office, and help return the reins of city government back to the working class. On September 10, we hope you will vote for Cathy Guerriero to become our next Public Advocate.

She stood about 6 feet tall with long dark hair and a fire in her eyes. “I have always wanted to be the Public Advocate,” she said while telling tales from her past and describing her family in detail especially her father, a retired longshoreman. Her glance was piercing, her voice penetrative, and the audience was enraptured reflecting on her words empowered by a strong narrative which conveyed a sense of absolute authority – so much like an ideal Public Advocate should be doing.

A Brooklyn native, Guerriero doesn’t come from a family of privilege, nor does she have a pedigree in politics, but what she does have is the prerequisite for an effective public advocate: a take no prisoner’s attitude. And Guerriero was a natural.

So many of us are numb to the run of the mill political stump speeches, having become skeptical, even dismissive of the rhetoric, but something struck me as genuine about her. Guerriero spoke with facts and figures, highlighting problems and issues in our education system, and occasionally demanding empirical evidence (and throwing a dig or two) at a Mayor whom was not present in the room at the time.

Her PhD is in schools policy, but as a natural educator, she brought a sense of familiarity to a diverse crowd that were sitting in judgment of her every word. Obviously, she has a natural aptitude for conveying complex issues clearly and concisely. Put simply, Guerriero is a teacher’s teacher with a knack for politics, though admittedly she’s an outsider with humble roots.

Guerrero’s outlook on public policy is what can be loosely described as a long-range academic enthusiast. The primary difference between her and her predecessors would be that Cathy has what it takes to see the job through, a job most people don’t understand except that it’s not the Mayor.

Peering in from the outside on a system filled with irregularities and fraught with red tape, she has her work cut out for her. But one thing is certain; it takes a lot of guts to be the Public Advocate of NYC. It’s one of three citywide elected offices with 9 million constituents and definitely not for the faint of heart. Her description of the public advocate’s duties gave us a clue as to what she will do with the position, which in reality is much like that of the Borough President, it’s what you make of it.

Her facts checked out, and overall I liked what I heard. Having witnessed her opponents in action, I became convinced – we need a public advocate like this. What we don’t need is another talking head or lame duck. And while the office is a bit subjective (remember it’s what you make of it), we have a few basic requirements wherein Guerriero’s temperament seems to match, even, dare I say it, stand out from the crowd. She’s blunt at times in such a way that most reporters have not heard from a candidate often startling them with her straightforwardness.

As for specifics, a good public advocate is someone who is accessible (she answers emails within 10 minutes), someone whom the people can go to for support, a person with enough good sense and moral fiber to investigate and process our complaints from across this great city, someone unafraid to lock horns with the speaker, and of course, to fearlessly preside over the entire council. We need a chief ombudsman, and Cathy Guerriero is it.

The forum will be hosted by The Powhatan and Pocahontas Regular Democratic Club of Queens in collaboration with the Anoroc Regular Democratic Club, Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, the Long Island City Alliance, and the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC.